When Queen Elizabeth met 'Snake Girl'

Police were shocked when a 19-year-old flaunted her snakes for the queen on her 1954 royal tour.

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A year after ascending to the throne, Queen Elizabeth II
visited Australia for 58 days as part of a six-month tour of the Commonwealth.
Around 75 percent of the population turned out to see her in person. When the
queen arrived in Mount Gambier, South Australia on Friday, February 26, there
was a special guest waiting for her: Shirley Weston the "snake girl",
a 19-year-old whose speciality was handling serpents. A savvy newspaperman suggested
Weston wear two carpet snakes around her neck as Her Majesty and Prince Philip
drove by. Weston wasn't sure — "Gee, I'd have to ask mum about that,"
she remarked — but nervously agreed to the stunt. The queen "gazed
fascinated" at Weston's display, which was deemed the "star
turn" of the day, but a policeman later accused the girl of
"offensive behaviour" until she explained she was only "giving
her best" for royalty. Other attractions included Leo the talking horse,
who refused to talk for the queen. (Getty Images)